Aerosol cans are used to expel therefrom liquid materials in the form of a mist or foam. Therefore, aerosol cans are used to store therein various types of products ranging from hair sprays to household cleaning products to bug killers. As a result, a variety of aerosol cans can be readily found in most all households and commercial establishments.
Recycling of various products such as plastics and paper is known. However, recycling of aerosol cans has not been required. Moreover, one of the biggest challenges with aerosol can disposal and recycling is that the contents in aerosol cans may not be fulled spent. When an aerosol can with unspent contents is heated via the rays of the sun such as the case in landfill environments, the aerosol can has the propensity to explode. As can be appreciated, un-punctured aerosol cans left in landfills or other environments where the temperature is not controlled can be hazardous.
In most instances, federal regulations prohibit the disposal of un-punctured aerosol cans in landfills. Furthermore, other regulations and proposed regulations seek to prohibit venting of the unspent contents of the aerosol cans to the atmosphere because of the harmful effects to the environment. One of the biggest concerns with the venting of unspent contents of the aerosol cans is the release of chlorofluorocarbons and other propellents considered to be harmful to the atmosphere.
Several devices have been patented which are aimed at aerosol can recycling or disposal systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,088, by O'Neill et al., entitled "LP GAS CAN AND GAS RECYCLING APPARATUS"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,171, by O'Neil, entitled "AEROSOL CAN RECYCLING SYSTEM"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,982, by O'Neil, entitled "AEROSOL CAN COMPACTION AND EVACUATION APPARATUS"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,093, by O'Neil, entitled "AEROSOL CAN PROPELLANT RECOVERY SYSTEM" disclose a system having a can feed hopper which feeds a can via a pneumatically controlled feed finger operated by an air line which releases one can at a time from a series of aerosol cans into a sloped chute. The slope of the chute allows the can to slide downwardly into a compaction cylinder. Prior to compaction of the can, the contents of the can is first evacuated. A penetrating need is provided to puncture the underside of the can.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,437, by O'Brien et al., entitled "AEROSOL CAN WASTE DISPOSAL DEVICE" discloses a device having a waste container such as a conventional 55 gallon drum. The can waste disposal device also comprises a cylinder for receiving an aerosol can. The cylinder is provided with piercing or puncturing means which punctures the bottom of a container to evacuate the gases or liquid in the container as a force is applied to the aerosol can to puncture the bottom side of the aerosol can. The evacuated gases or liquid is channeled into the drum. The drum is provided with a gas exhausting means which is used to remove gases from the waste container. A filter may be provided to remove harmful ingredients from the gases.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,526, by Nash, entitled "METHOD FOR DISPOSAL OF AEROSOL SPRAY CONTAINERS" discloses a method of disposal of aerosol dispensers which comprises cooling the aerosol dispenser and its contents to a temperature below which the propellant exhibits a substantial vapor pressure (i.e., below the boiling points(s) of the propellant. After the cooling stage, the aerosol dispenser is than punctured. The cold liquefied propellant and any additional liquid contents of the aerosol dispenser may than be drained without any danger of propellant release to the atmosphere into a collection container capable of accommodating the vapor pressure of the propellant at ambient temperature. The propellant may be recovered from the container and introduced into suitable containers for transport and ultimate reuse or disposal.
While each of the above aerosol disposal apparatuses functions as desired, none of them have an inlet chute provided with a retractable puncturing member which punctures the side of the aerosol can and a waste container which receives the punctured aerosol can via the inlet chute wherein the waste container is lined with a removable refuse liner having placed therein an absorbing material for removing harmful ingredients from the evacuating contents of the punctured aerosol can.
As will be seen more fully below, the present invention is different in structure, methodology and approach from that of the prior aerosol can disposal apparatuses.